Build Before You Compare: Relationships, Resilience, and Success with Danielle Hennessy

[0:00] Welcome back to the REI agent. My guest today is Danielle Hennessy, a real estate agent with EXP Realty in Grand Prairie, Alberta, one of Canada’s most resource driven markets where oil and gas activity shapes buyer demand migration patterns and price cycles in ways most agents in other markets never have to think about. Danielle operates on the front lines of that volatility building a practice that has resilient has been resilient enough to perform across a full commodity cycle. She brings a ground level perspective on what it actually takes to build a durable real estate career in a market that moves on to its own beat. Danielle, welcome to the REI agent podcast. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So I guess I want to dive into that, what drives the market, but to start, tell us a little bit how you got into real estate to begin with. I got into real estate. I’ve been a wedding photographer for the last 15 years. And I guess what drove me into real estate was my own home buying experience. It wasn’t the greatest experience left me feeling a little bit disappointed in a few things. And just seeing how I’ve built my own

[1:06] business and wedding and putting my client first and dealing with the stressful situations, I felt like I was able to provide that for other people buying their homes. And so yeah, I got into real estate. So I studied photography as kind of like a hobby more in college. They didn’t have a minor in photography, but I kind of just took a bunch of classes in it anyway. And then when I got into real estate, I used that knowledge, bought a camera and then like shot real estate for a while to just kind of pay for the gear. Because, you know, if you’re a gearhead at all, and I’m getting into watches now, so that’s the dangerous path. Photography can be really, you know, addicting to kind of look at the different lenses, all this kind of stuff. All that to say is at one point, I was asked by my sister-in-law to shoot her wedding. And so I did one wedding. That’s a lot. Wedding photography is no joke. I mean, that’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of pictures, a lot to process. It’s a whole thing.

[2:15] Yeah. No wedding day is the same. I can’t imagine. And I was fortunate too, because this was in the Seattle area. So there was actually fairly overcast. And so I didn’t really have harsh shadows to deal with, which made it a lot easier. But did you use your photography skills at all? And when you got into real estate, did you do any of your own photography? I did. And when I got my first listing, I was a little bit cocky about it. And I was like, well, I’ve been a wedding photographer. How hard can real estate photography be? But it was actually quite a bit harder of a learning curve for me. But I actually do still do photography for real estate. Yeah. I do photography for about 12 other agents right now as well, though.

[2:56] Okay. Cool. That’s awesome. Yeah. No, I think I remember having to learn. Back in the day, there was a specific plugin that I put into Lightroom that would merge HDR photos. And it was this really slow, cumbersome process. It’s gotten so much easier now. I remember any kind of variation. You had to have a remote, so you wouldn’t shake the camera when it took the three different exposures and all this kind of stuff. And any more I’ve done, every once in a while, I’ll do a little bit of shoots. I honestly just handhold my HDRs and take five images and I can blend them fine. That being said, I actually don’t do my photography for the most part now because it’s been, it was one of the things that I wasn’t finding as much joy in and I was kind of ready to offload. Also, people were bringing in like the, I forget the term, but it’s when they have introduced a flash as well so that you’re blending images, but you also have like the different light exposures as well with the flash. And I was like, you know, I’m just, I think I’m ready to focus on the sales more. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, okay. So you, you, you bought your house,

[4:05] you felt like you could, you could have provide a better experience for it. How long did that take to get licensed then? And, and kind of what was your, your, your run up time when you, when you started actually selling? It took me about eight months to get my license. And then I waited about two months after holding that license to go and be with a brokerage. It just was something I had to absorb a bit first and kind of build up my confidence. And then, yeah, my first, first client, I thought being a wedding photographer was going to definitely be one of my clients. And it was not, it was a stranger off the internet that went onto the brokerage website that scrolled through, found whatever agent they thought was, looked the nicest and kind and they reached out. And that was my first sale about a month and a half in. So. Wow. Wow. That’s, that’s awesome. And, and is it same in Canada? Like here, we always joke about like, you know, you get your license and you don’t really learn anything that’s applicable to, to running the business itself. It’s maybe a little bit too easy, but also not really helpful of course, as far as actually, you know, building a

[5:12] sustainable business that lasts. Is that sounds like the same? Same thing here. Yeah. I got out of, when I had my certificate and everything was done and I did my first, before I even did my first deal, I was, Hey, where do I find the contract? And they didn’t really thoroughly go through it all in the school. So you’re learning a lot more outside of the schooling for sure. Yeah. So you were a full-time wedding photographer before going in? Yeah. I still do it. I still do it. Okay. And so you had already built a business. Was that helpful for you to have like, kind of like a, you know, having to, you know, be a self-starter, whatever, like build up your own business that you can, you can live on.

[5:52] Was it helpful in the transition? A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. So yeah. What, what, what helped you build up the momentum? What kind of strategies did you look for other than just hoping that somebody is going to look on your website and think you look nice? Um, I think a lot of the strategies kind of came from just how to serve people, how to connect to people and just really work on my sphere and just letting people know like, Hey, am I realtor? So every time I would host an open house, I would share it on my real estate page, but I would also share it onto my photography page. Cause I know I could have that extra reach and it actually worked out good. I had a bride and groom come through one of my open houses and they were like, Hey, we’re looking to sell and we want to buy. So that worked out really well for me to be able to leverage that extra audience in there.

[6:44] Yeah. That’s funny. I mean, that’s a, you know, they talk about, you know, people buy and sell houses and like big kind of transitional periods of their lives. And I mean, getting married is certainly a big one. So I could see where that co-marketing could work well. You could have like a, Hey, I’ll shoot your wedding and sell you a house package. And then if you get divorced later on, I won’t, I won’t photograph that, but I can certainly sell your house. I’ve actually photographed a couple, a couple of brides, their second marriages to me for their second wedding. So there you go. Yeah. 3B business and that’s just says you’re doing something right. Um, well, tell us a little bit about the, the, you know, we talked about the, uh, the market cycle where you’re at and, and tell us a little bit about how that is different than what maybe other people experience. Well, I think one of the biggest things here is that throughout the rest of Canada, the pricing is just insane. And so I think the biggest difference here is that we are seeing a lot of first time buyers at a younger age, being able to get into the market versus somewhere like

[7:46] Vancouver or Toronto. Um, it’s more affordable to get into your first home here. My youngest client is with 20 buying their first home and you don’t see that in the city. Yeah. Cause I mean, that’s one of our biggest separators. The big cities are, are probably easy, like million plus. Is that, is that accurate? I would say definitely. Yeah. Yeah. What’s your median sales price look like right now? The average sale price for a single family home is about 413,000. Okay. Okay. So, I mean, it’s still, that’s still, you know, not pennies, but more. It’s not pennies. That’s, that’s, you know, you want a garage because we have cold winters. So, right. Those ones are the ones with the garage, but yeah.

[8:30] Okay. Yeah. Now that’s, so, so you’ve, you’ve really built a business around, um, your relationships, like, so your sphere, like you’re different, like you have a different world sort of, of, you know, your photography business so that, that, you know, trying to feed, uh, probably cross pollinate the two businesses when you can. Right. I mean, like, like I’m imagining if you’re selling a house to somebody that doesn’t, uh, hasn’t come to you from the photography world that it would come up that you do photography as well. You do wedding photography and there might be referrals that come from that as well. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s, I think it’s interesting. I think, um, not that you have to, uh, be, have multiple businesses. Um, you know, what somebody in my team is, um, owns a gym, um, and, uh, does nutrition coaching as well. Uh, but they, you know, that, that works really well. Like it’s a whole different sphere, a whole different, uh, group of people that, that, you know, you just letting them know that you’re in real estate, uh, can be really beneficial and, and they’re touching and have a lot of people that trust them, uh, from that, that world. Um,

[9:32] I think whenever you can like having a third place, Erica and I, my wife, I like to call it, uh, is, um, is really important for your, for your own, you know, mental health. Um, for one, like, so you have like, you know, your, your work, your home and a third place that could be like a community that you’re a part of. It could be a church, it could be a gym, it could be, you know, a lot of pickleball, like that extra tribe, um, of people can, can really, really help your business, but it’s also just a really healthy thing. And it’s just a win-win. So if you’re not involved in something like that, I think it’s super important for your business and just, again, for your mental health. Um, if you’re moving to a new market, um, I think like joining like a gym class where you become like, you know, entrenched with a tribe, like it’s such a good way of kind of getting into a community or one of the ways, you know, pickleball league is another example. Um, but do you have any of those outside of, you know, photography? Um, I, it’s so funny you mentioned pickleball cause it’s actually something

[10:30] I’m going to start playing with another realtor. Her and I have, yeah, her and I are going to start doing that together and get involved that way. And otherwise for me, yeah, it’s just, I, I go on lots of walks. I talk to people everywhere I go. Um, I try to edit at coffee shops as much as possible. That way I’m just out in public. And as a group, our little EXP group in Grand Prairie, we do meet every week at a coffee shop and we’re out in public and just talking to people. Um, I also do marketing for marketing videos for some local businesses. So that also helped me out there and, you know, just all those different conversations. Yeah. Getting involved in, um, in, in nonprofits and boards, um, you know, that kind of stuff is also really a great, great way for, for that type of business. Um, have you ever explored the world of, of buying leads? Have you ever done anything like that?

[11:23] No, I actually haven’t. I’m nervous to do that because I just don’t know how, how truthful they would be. So I just never done it. Yeah, no, I think it’s, it’s, uh, so I think I often, I’m a relationship based agent myself. Um, so, you know, you know, talking to you and the way you’ve built your business is definitely true to, to what I believe, uh, that I want for my world, my business to be. I think that every time, um, you know, I have had some different lead sources where there’ve been, uh, you know, like kind of more of a, you pay a percentage, um, of like a referral fee if it closes, that kind of stuff. Um, and, um, those haven’t come in so frequent that it’s been exhausting, but I, I, you know, I think like just playing secretary, um, and just kind of answering the phone constantly for like, you know, that 1% of people that are going to actually end up transacting, um, just doesn’t sound like a path that I want to go down. But I think, you know, if you’re getting started, um, I don’t think it’s necessarily a horrible thing to do, especially if you find a good, um, a method that actually converts any track and you make sure that it’s, you know, each dollar you’re spending

[12:31] is bringing you at least two, um, you know, maybe three, maybe four. Um, and I think, you know, if you can track it well, um, that’s great. But I think more importantly, I think what you really need to make sure is that you’re not just depending on that lead source, that you’re actually using that as a leverage to build your own sphere so that you can maintain those relationships after they close so that they can refer you people so that they can transact with you again, whenever they’re ready to buy and sell. I think that’s, if you need that little boost, it’s not, you know, the end of the world. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I just up here, I think it’s just, it’s a little bit, yeah, up here. It’s a lot of word of mouth. I feel like, yeah, how long. Yeah. They say that, you know, most people know, um, seven realtors and, you know, and, and so I think why, why would it, for a lot of people, like they wouldn’t necessarily click or, I mean, I guess sometimes those leads are kind of misleading.

[13:24] Like all of a sudden they find themselves, uh, talking to somebody on the phone that they didn’t really mean to. And then they just find themselves at that. They just wanted to see a house and understand what it meant. And they signed a buyer brokerage agreement. They don’t understand what that means. And now they’re actually like working with somebody and they didn’t necessarily mean to. So there’s that element, but I think for a lot of people, um, they’re going to be working with somebody they know, like, and trust. Um, and yeah, as if you’re staying in touch with people, if you’re, you’re, you’re being out there and being a kind, good person, uh, they, they will hopefully know, like, and trust you and choose to work with you whenever they want to buy or sell.

[13:58] Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so how is the, how is the market, uh, where you’re at now? Is it, is it still pretty strong or have you seen any shifting since the pandemic? It’s, it’s pretty strong up here. So it’s definitely a seller’s market bill, um, inventory is low. So that’s always, you know, when you’re a seller’s agent, it’s really easy right now, but when you’re the buyer’s agent and there’s multiple offers and you’re bidding against other buyers, it’s very competitive to that. What, what kind of, uh, what, what are you seeing for like a median days in the market? Uh, if it is, if it’s that single family home with a garage, it is, you’ve got an offer by the night morning for some of them. Yeah. Like it, it’s busy. Um, it was, uh, last winter I was taking a buyer out and we were told by the agent, you have 15 minutes because there’s a lineup of other agents and it’s, it’s minus 30 and it’s cold. So you’re standing outside just shivering, hoping and praying that the other realtors just quick for their 15 minutes because you have to get in with your client. Um, and it’s night and it’s dark. And how do you know

[15:04] if you’re going to buy that house in 15 minutes? Because by the time I’m halfway through the realtors texting and saying, Hey, I’ve got three offers coming in. If you have an offer, I need it within an hour. And it’s intense. Yeah. Um, that’s yeah. That sounds, that sounds wild. Um, and so I’m assuming like, is it usually three plus offers kind of a lot of them? Yeah. Um, no, it’s interesting. Cause I think in, in, in the market that I’m in and a lot of markets that I’m talking to, that’s either already shifted or, um, we’re currently in this like transition period where people are kind of used to that a little bit. So like they are, buyers are like, okay, a house has been on the market now for, first of all, they’re not super motivated. They’re like, kind of like, maybe I’ll go see it. Uh, today doesn’t really work. Maybe tomorrow. It’s not like that urgency from before. Um, and then, you know, then the house has been on the market for a, you know, a week or whatever. I think our, our median days in the markets is around two weeks now. Um, they’re like, uh, like, why has it been on the market so long? It’s, it must be overpriced.

[16:04] Something must be wrong with it. And, and then, so like, there’s like this expectation that the house needs to be, uh, negotiated and get a good deal then. And then the sellers are, you know, kind of also still expecting things to be the way they were and it, it isn’t that way. And, and so they’re kind of frustrated in there. Um, it’s just, you know, like I had to, I had to pay for closing costs, um, you know, or, or, you know, vice versa. And, and there’s just, it, yeah, it’s a, it’s an interesting market. So, uh, I’m glad to hear that it’s, it’s not that for you. Um, and, but I do know it is challenging when you, especially when you’re representing buyers. So do you have any strategies that, uh, you, you use to, to help make your offers competitive if your buyers are willing?

[16:45] Yeah. So for me, it all depends on the situation. So I always make sure that I have that copy of the pre-approval letter, just, you know, to make sure we’re serious. Um, and then depending on my buyer’s situation, and I’ve actually been really lucky, I’m going to be honest here. I’ve been really lucky that most of my buyers haven’t had to sell a property. It’s a lot of first time buyers I’m working with. They’ve been living with their parents. Um, so they don’t have that, you know, well, I have wait 60 days for possession. I have to notice I have to do this. Um, so I’ve been really lucky that I’ve been able to get in with some strong offers and having the quicker possession and pushing through as much of my conditions as possible. Um, those sometimes are better than a higher offer that has to sell a house or any other conditions that would delay the closing.

[17:34] So, yeah, a hundred percent. I think sometimes, yeah, that’s, that’s great. I think sometimes that, uh, if you’re in that position where you have to have like a home sale contingency or, or, or, um, maybe not having as much money. I mean, for us, like government loans can be like a little bit more challenging when it’s that hot. Um, just as a, you know, if a buyer, if a seller gets multiple offers and they’re all relatively similar, but one of them seems a little bit more risky because it’s a hundred percent financing or, you know, 97 or 96.5% financing. Um, it, it can be a little bit hard to win one, but if you can pay attention to, um, houses that are, it’s hard to, you got to coach your, your buyers to, to kind of understand this, that, um, you know, the opportunity can really be that house that comes back on the market. Uh, the house that didn’t, that is on the market for a little bit, like an overpriced house might be your opportunity. You might be able to go in there and actually negotiate at a price that makes sense. Um, because it’s not selling and they’re now feeling a little

[18:34] bit desperate, um, where otherwise you might end up paying more, uh, for a house because they priced it in a way that made the bidding war happen. So, uh, it’s, it’s hard to help, um, buyers sometimes understand that they have to, uh, go a little bit against the grain if, if they want to, uh, be successful sometimes or, or find themselves in a, in a better deal, uh, less competitive, not waiving as many contingencies, et cetera. Um, so that can certainly be helpful as well. Yeah. And I mean, we do see some agents that coach their buyers to not do a home inspection. Um, that is not something I do, but there are agents that do use that as their opportunity to try and win it. Um, but yeah, those ones are just not comfortable with that.

[19:17] Yeah. And I’ve, there’s so many different, um, yeah, remember it, you know, I enjoyed, I enjoyed the, the challenge, the, uh, thinking creatively. I, you know, I would always help my buyers. I think, you know, like I, I had a friend who was like, I don’t, I hope I never come against you. And, and, um, I’m sounding like I’m bragging here, but like, Oh, but I don’t come against you. Uh, when I, we’re doing a bidding war kind of scenario. Cause like you, you always win them. And, and they’re like, how do you do it? Like, and, and for me, what I always found really helpful was just spending a lot of time making sure that my buyers really understood like what the strategy is, what makes, uh, an offer. Cause like you’re, you can, you’re not going to be able to, they have to agree and be comfortable with. And, and to your point, like, you know, like they, if they’re going to take a risk like that, they have to understand the risk. They don’t, you know, I’m not recommending waiving a home inspection. If they lose out on six offers and decide that they want to do it, that, you know, that might be their choice. I’m not going to necessarily like, I’m not going to

[20:15] advise for it, but I’m not going to stand in their way if they really want to do that. Um, but, but yeah, no, just really helping them understand. So for example, we, we use escalation clauses. Um, and there’s a couple of different things that you can manipulate in an escalation clause. You can, you know, do your max purchase price is one obviously, but then how much you go above another offer is another one that, um, you know, I like to, to spend a lot of time with my clients thinking through. So like if you were coming in with a very, if you’re coming in with a cash, no inspections offer, and you want to do an escalation clause, you may only need to do like $1 above another offer. Cause like your contingencies are so strong or your lack of contingencies are so strong that you’re going to be appealing, um, to the seller. If you’re coming in with a hundred percent financing and a million contingencies, home sale contingency, you know, home inspection contingency, all that kind of stuff to make them really consider your offer over somebody else’s, it’s gotta be significant. And I think really spending time on those little minute

[21:12] details and having them really understand what differentiates your offer from another makes it so that you can, you can write a much stronger offer to, to actually win a bidding war. Absolutely. And that’s why, so we do see a lot of the escalation clauses and I have had to use it a few times, but one thing I do prep my buyers on well ahead of time is when we’re looking, if I know they’re in a really hot, like price point area, um, is I, I let them know chances are something like this that’s going to come along is going to go above list and you will need to implement an, an escalation clause. And for that reason, I don’t show them something that they’re like at their Mac. If they’re only pre-approved for three 20, I don’t want to show them three 20 or three 25 because right now we’re, we might just be wasting time. So, um, like I’ll still show them three 20 if it, but chances are, if it’s going to go into multiples, it’s going to be a hard one. So I try to get them to look a little bit less so that we do have that wiggle room to go up to their Mac in an escalation clause. Should we need to do that?

[22:16] Yeah. I think, I think that, um, yeah, I think, I think sometimes buyers also have to experience it. Um, they almost have to be knocked out in the ring. They do. Some of them I’ve had some that I had a first time buyers that they, you know, we’re in a seller’s market and every single offer 20 grand under 20 grand under, and I would call the agent ahead and I’m like, I’m so sorry. Um, I’m going to send this offer in and I know it’s low and I’ve coached my client and I, you know, but just representing them, I’m sending it in and yeah, it took six knockdowns for them to finally be like, okay, so you were right. Um, we need to go with one. So when their dream house came up, they went a little bit over ask and I was like, well, are you guys okay? But they got it. So yeah, that’s great. Yeah.

[23:06] I think that this is, I think also the challenge right now for, uh, for markets that are slower is I was just thinking about how like sometimes buyers have to go through that loss to kind of know what, and so like right now still like, you know, if, if they are, um, more of the mindset that they really need to negotiate hard, uh, and, and there’s also, I think there’s, there’s a stigma about the list price. Uh, like this price doesn’t necessarily mean that much. Like if, if they listed it, uh, you know, $20,000 dollars under what I think the market value is like, you know, going above by 5,000 is still a great deal. Um, and I think there’s oftentimes people that will just be kind of hung up on wanting to negotiate off the price. Um, so I think that, you know, now there is a, in our market, there’s a bit of a challenge to, um, help buyers get what they want, um, and not get focused on like, kind of having to win everything. Um, when it’s a great deal, if it’s a great house, like, you know, like it’s like, it’s okay, like go for it. And so there’s, there is a luxury for a buyer that they can

[24:06] go in and make the offer and, uh, that they want, think that they are maybe unrealistic about lose, and then come around and find another one, maybe the Hicks six times before they get serious. Uh, but they can get that with a seller, especially in a market that’s more important to price, right? Um, you can really hurt yourself when you go into list, uh, too high. And I, it’s been more of a challenge to, to really, uh, in recent deals, uh, to, to really help them understand. Cause I think there’s a, I’ve, I’ve heard people like, you know, talk about how you can tell people all you want, but if you can’t show them like evidence, if you can’t show them articles and you can’t give them the experience, like they, it’s hard for them to truly maybe believe you, um, or, and, or just like fully take it to heart. So the more evidence you can give, I think the, the more important or the, the more likely you are to have them actually listen to you. And I think that’s, can be a challenge now because you don’t have that luxury as much, uh, in a, in a slower market for sellers to, to go out, put the, put a price out there and see if it, see if it lands. And then again, we have the buyers

[25:13] like it hasn’t sold, must be something wrong with it. Um, and it might just be a little bit price high. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It’s, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s, that’s fascinating. So, uh, what’s, what’s the, the bigger cities? Are they, are they experiencing more of a slowdown then? Have you heard? Uh, so yeah, Calgary has slowed down a bit, which is in the same province as us. Um, so they’re kind of a little bit slower, whether we follow suit that or not, it hasn’t yet. So, um, and then Vancouver, Vancouver is a bit slower than it was before. Um, and then Toronto, we, we see so many people moving here from Ontario. Like I, when I have a listing and I do a targeted ad to BC and Ontario, it’s more clicks from Ontario by far. Yeah. And I thought opposite. I’m like, BC is right beside us.

[26:00] Why aren’t they coming over? But yeah, it’s a lot of people from Ontario because they can get that top dollar for their place right now and pay cash here and still have, you know, a bigger house, a bigger lot, all that stuff. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Um, then now I’m curious about, uh, the golden nuggets you have for our listeners. Um, okay. So going from like, this is from a book I read, uh, and I listened to a lot of podcasts. I love podcasts, but, um, one of the things I heard and it’s such a great mindset to have is to build before you compare. So in the morning, if you get up, I would, I like to start working on my business before going on Instagram and being what everybody else is up to. You know, I feel like if you start your day off with, you know, not just a grateful mindset, but also a productive one to build on your business. I think that that is, um, I think we build a way better business that way versus comparing and getting in that lull, because then you’re just wasting time. So I think if I can get up every morning and just do something that moves the needle in my business, it’s going to be better for me. And then another one is that,

[27:05] um, for me, relationships are big and relationships are transaction. So, um, you know, it’s not just about selling and buying, it’s just helping people and just walking them through being the person that they trust. And I feel like if you’re just, if you’re, yeah, I think if you just build those long-term relationships, it’ll always come back for you. And I guess another one would be that every realtor is going to be buying, um, losing is part of the game. And I think how you handle those losses is going to move you way further in the long run. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, that it definitely does happen. And, um, you know, there can be times where, you know, like your circles are just a little bit different and they became closer with another agent. Um, and, um, like, again, like, you know, like we talked about before, every person probably knows about seven people in the business and, uh, they just, whoever, uh, Ninja Selling thing calls it like whoever they’re most in flow with, if they know, like, and trust multiple agents, whoever they’re most in flow with, they’re going to be the ones that they probably go with. Um, and you know, that’s

[28:07] just kind of a good reminder to, to work on your business. Like you said, like, so to, to reach out to your sphere. Um, it’s also a great opportunity for my shameless plug of the CRM on reiagent.com and check that out. Um, it is, uh, all designed to be a really simple and easy to use way to stay in touch and stay engaged with your clients. Um, it gives you the Ford, uh, field so you can fill out details like, you know, the kids names, the kids birthdays, their birthdays, you know, their, their occupation, their recreation, their dreams, um, that you can, you know, have, it prompts you to, to, to touch base with people at, you know, opportune times. Um, your A’s are going to be, uh, touching base with them more frequently than your B’s and then more frequently with your B’s and your C’s, uh, so that you are staying the most in flow that you possibly can with these people. Um, and working through this is not a mountain, you know, I’ve got a pretty good, uh, database by now, and I, I try to do six people a day. So it’s really not a huge, huge mountain to climb and, um, definitely go check it out. Um, we we’ve launched it recently. So we have a founders kind of opportunity

[29:14] where you can lock in a cheaper rate long-term with a 30 day, uh, trial for the short term. But, um, what about, let me transition quick, uh, back, that, that shameless plug, uh, Danielle, uh, and oh, yeah. And also while you’re on that website, sign up for our newsletter. Uh, this will, uh, a weekly summary of the, of the podcast that came out. We’ll, uh, we’ll send out there. Um, and then Danielle’s episode will also be a blog so you can read the content. And if you are an agent driving around listening to podcasts, like we both probably do, uh, like we all do, uh, you know, you can get that content. You don’t feel like you have to get in a wreck trying to take notes from these tips. But, uh, Danielle, what about a fundamental book, uh, you think everybody should read or one that you’re currently just enjoying? Uh, one of my favorite recent reads is the gap in the game by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, that one, it’s been a little bit.

[30:08] Remind me about what that, what that one’s about. Um, it’s just about how you measure your own success. You know, a lot of us are kind of being in that gap. And I think when you focus on where, how far you’ve come versus again, the comparison with other people, um, it’s easier to measure your own success based off of where you’re coming from and getting ahead that way. I love it. Yeah. And it’s also, you know, I think important to not lose sight of what’s really important. So, you know, if you’re only looking at the, uh, the sales volume, the, the, the, you know, what people are doing in your market and comparing yourself to those, uh, other top producers, et cetera, um, that’s only one piece of life. Like you, would you rather be on your deathbed and, you know, have been the top selling agent every year for 40 years, um, and have no life, um, no, nobody, you know, really no happy family, no other experiences, travel experiences, be on your deathbed early because you’re not taking care of yourself properly. Um, would you, would you rather have that? Or, you know, would you rather have, you know, a, a sustainable income, a sustainable life that you can, uh, share with a

[31:20] family that you get to travel with and that you get to, you know, enjoy life with and have hobbies that you enjoy, et cetera. I mean, like, what’s the point at the end of the day? Like what, what is your why? Um, so yeah, comparing yourself to others is not very helpful. No, it’s definitely very anti-productive. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. That’s great. I’ll have to, I don’t, that one has come up before, but I don’t think I’ve actually ever read that one. So I have to put it on my list. Um, and yeah, where, if people are interested in following you on social media, uh, finding out more about you, where can they find you? I, I prefer Instagram over Facebook. Um, so I do have both, but I use my Instagram more and it is my name, Danielle Hennessy realtor. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast again. If anybody is listening to this and enjoyed this content and wants to be notified about a new episodes that come out, definitely subscribe to wherever you get your episodes. We’re on pretty much everything, YouTube and all the different Apple, um, Spotify, et cetera. So definitely check us out there. Leave us a review while you’re at it.

[32:21] We’d love it. Feedback is always helpful and it helps us grow more. Uh, but Danielle, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s been an honor talking to you. Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening to the REI agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week. Visit REIAgent.com for more content. Until next time, keep building the life you want. All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.